1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to motorcycle stands. More specifically, it relates to a lockable motorcycle security stand for theft prevention.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Motorcycle theft is a rampant problem in the United States and worldwide. Motorcycles are fairly light and can be loaded onto a transport vehicle without any specialized machinery, making them an attractive target for thieves. Due to this problem, many motorcycle owners are reluctant to park their motorcycles in public places that do not provide anti-theft options for their vehicles. Consequentially, this issue may constitute a significant inconvenience for the motorcyclists and have a negative effect on businesses whose parking lots are devoid of motorcycle anti-theft measures.
Although a number of prior art devices attempted to resolve this problem, they all have significant shortcomings undermining their effectiveness. For example, the anti-theft device of European patent application publication No. EP 2,189,361 discloses a device that attaches to a brake disk of a wheel and is adapted to disable unauthorized starting of the engine. This device, however, is of little use against thieves who simply pick up the motorcycle and load it onto a transport vehicle without attempting to start the engine.
Another motorcycle anti-theft device was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,817. This device is a security stand for motorcycles adapted to secure front wheel of the motorcycle to the stand. A major shortcoming of such device is that a thief may detach the front wheel leaving it locked to the stand, and steal the body of the motorcycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,454 discloses a security stand for motorcycles that relies on a plurality of horizontal bars that must be fully removed and reinserted every time the motorcycle is being locked or unlocked. This tedious task may be too impractical for many users, especially when the motorcycle is being parked for a short period of time.
Accordingly, there exists a strong need for a motorcycle anti-theft stand that is both effective and easy to operate. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.